5 Takeaways: Trocheck scores, Reimer shines in win over Predators

NASHVILLE -The Florida Panthers are beaming with confidence once again.
Led by a huge night in net from backup James Reimer, the Panthers picked up their second win in as many nights, topping the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.

Reimer made a season-high 37 saves, including 20 stops in the second period alone.
"For me, it was his best game of the year," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "I thought that he was seeing the puck, he was moving, he was aggressive, he was on top of his crease and his rebound control was good. Deservedly so, the boys gave him the ball tonight as the player of the game amongst us. I thought he really fought hard for everything and looked good in there."
In their second-to-last game before the All-Star break, the Panthers (19-20-8) once again pieced together a strong first period, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano. In the second, Vincent Trocheck extended the lead to 3-0 on a breakaway goal.
"I think the start was huge for us," Trocheck said. "We've been preaching that all year, getting a hot start. Especially in a building like this, if they get a hot start that building gets behind them and they're tough to beat. Like you said, Reims was huge tonight for us."
Following Trocheck's goal - his first since returning to the lineup on Thursday after missing the previous 27 games - the Predators made their push in the third period, as Nick Bonino and Austin Watson scored 38 seconds apart to cut the lead down to 3-2 at 3:23 of the final frame.
But at 11:38, Jared McCann stopped the bleeding with a goal that made it 4-2.
"You can feel the fun in the room," Ekblad said after the win.
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Nashville…

1. EKBLAD STANDS ALONE

This one will stick.
After appearing to break the record twice last week only to have both goals taken away, Ekblad finally stands alone as Florida's all-time leader in goals by a defenseman, beating Juuse Saros with a booming one-timer on the power play that made it 1-0 at 4:05 of the first period.
The 62nd goal of his career, Ekblad moved past Robert Svehla for sole possession of first place.

"Happy to get one on the power play," Ekblad said. "All systems go for us right now."
The first-overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ekblad has been a goal-scoring machine ever since he debuted with the Panthers as an 18-year-old phenom. The Calder Trophy winner during his rookie campaign, the 22-year-old has scored at least 10 goals in each of his first four seasons.
This season, Ekblad is on pace to put up double-digits in the goals column again, ranking first among Panthers defenseman and tied for seventh among NHL defenseman with nine goals. In addition to his goal total, he also has 11 assists, including one helper against the Predators.

2. FIFTEEN FOR FRANK

Mike Hoffman and Vatrano.
Since Jan. 3, those have been the two hottest goal scorers for the Panthers.
With the Panthers leading 1-0, Vatrano doubled his team's lead on Saturday night, taking a feed from Ekblad and roofing a wrist shot from the high slot over Saros to make it 2-0 at 13:16 of the first period. With the goal, Vatrano matched Hoffman with his fifth goal in the last nine contests.

Riding high in his first full season with the Panthers, Vatrano has already reached new career-highs in goals (15) and points (22). Making a concerted effort to being more consistent, the 24-year-old winger has gone more than four games without scoring a goal just once this season.
In Nashville, Vatrano stoked the flames of Florida's attack with a team-high six shots on goal.

3. WELCOME BACK

Trocheck's new ankle appears to somehow be even better than the old one.
In just his second game after returning from a broken ankle suffered on Nov. 19 in Ottawa, the 25-year-old center got back to doing what he does best, collecting the puck at the blue line and scoring off his backhand on a breakaway to put Florida ahead 3-0 at 2:59 of the second period.

With a big two-point night in Nashville, Trocheck has now registered three points (one goal, two assists) in his first two games back in the lineup. Fresh off setting career-bests in goals (31) and points (75), he has accumulated 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 20 games this season.
Incredibly, Trocheck led all Panthers forwards with 22:03 of ice time against the Predators.

4. THE MAN IN THE PANTHERS MASK

Reimer's new mask might have a little magic in it.
On the same night he unveiled a brand-new cage (it's straight fire, by the way), Reimer had one of his best outings of the season, stopping 37 of 39 shots to improve to 9-8-5. With the win, the 30-year-old backup improved to 8-4-4 in his last 19 appearances and 4-1-2 and his last eight.
What makes Reimer's night so impressive, however, isn't just the amount of saves he made, but rather the quality of shots he faced. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, he faced 16 high-danger chances, stopping 14 of them, like the point-blank chance for Craig Smith in the video below.

"We gave up a few Grade-A opportunities, and he saved our [butts]," Ekblad said of Reimer's performance. "A huge game for him. Very happy for him. He was by far our number one star."

5. McCANN YOU DIG IT?

McCann got the last laugh on Saturday night.
The victim of some chippy play throughout the game, McCann fittingly was the one that put the nail in Nashville's coffin, taking a pass from Colton Sceviour and sliding the puck past Saros to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead with 8:22 remaining in regulation.

His eighth goal of the season, McCann is now one score away from matching his career high.
"That put the game out of reach," Ekblad said. "We were very happy to have that."
McCann's goal highlighted a very strong night for the fourth line, which combined for four points in the win. Sceviour led the way with two assists, while Jayce Hawryluk chipped in an assist and McCann, of course, had his goal. All three finished as positive possession players at 5-on-5.
"Some nights like this, especially back-to-back, you need four lines and everybody," Boughner said of the fourth line. "They really supplied some energy and some offense. It was nice for us."

BONUS: KILLER CATS FROM OUTER SPACE

The Panthers had themselves another huge night on the penalty kill.
After going a perfect 4-on-4 against the Predators, Florida's penalty kill improved to 24-for-26 over its last 11 games, giving them the second-best unit in the NHL since Dec. 29. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers' PK limited Nashville to just three total scoring chances.
"It was a good special teams night for us," Boughner said.